


A mark upon your skin to show you're mine

by VileVenom



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: M/M, semi-sentient tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-23
Updated: 2013-08-23
Packaged: 2017-12-24 10:28:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/938899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VileVenom/pseuds/VileVenom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carlos has known Cecil's tattoos move for quite some time. Just, not to such an extent.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A mark upon your skin to show you're mine

**Author's Note:**

> I love the headcanon that Cecil has tattoos that move.  
> I also love the idea that they're more or less sentient.

Carlos scrunched up his nose as he reached over his shoulder for what felt like the hundredth time, scratching at what he could reach of his shoulder blade. He finally grunted when he found he couldn’t quite reach the itch that had blossomed over his left shoulder, while letting his head fall forward onto his desk.

"Cecil," he rumbled into the desk, lifting his head only enough so he could turn his head to see Cecil as he wandered into Carlos’ ‘at home’ lab (which was really just the spare bedroom he’d taken over when Cecil declared he didn’t have any plans for the extra space).

"Yes, dear Carlos?" Cecil hummed, moving across the room in two quick strides, setting a steaming mug of what appeared to be coffee (though it could, conceivably, be anything, really) on the desk near the scientists’ head.

"There’s…I need you to check and see if I got bitten by anything," Carlos grumbled, sitting up to pull his lab coat off, before rucking his shirt up enough for Cecil to see the affected area. "Particularly my left shoulder blade? It’s been far more irritated than a simple itch should be."

Cecil made a quiet humming noise behind him, before going completely silent. Carlos sat for a solid five minutes (at least, that’s what his clock said) in silence, before finally looking over his shoulder at Cecil in mild concern. “Well?” he prompted, “Is there something there?”

"Uhm," Cecil began, faltering a bit, which only served to cause Carlos a small amount of alarm, "It’s…well, it’s nothing bad!"

Carlos dropped his shirt and whirled around on his chair to face Cecil, a frown set firmly on his lips. “Cecil,” he rumbled quietly, eyeing the other over the rim of his glasses.

Cecil squirmed a little, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt, before sighing heavily and raking his fingers through his hair haphazardly, his tattoos swirling around his arms in mild agitation. “It would seem that you have acquired a new body mate.”

"WHAT?!" Carlos yelped, immediately moving to yank his shirt up over his head while simultaneously getting up to go see for himself in the bathroom mirror.

"Carlos! Carlos, calm down," Cecil urged, stepping into Carlos’ path while placing his hands on the agitated scientists’ shoulders. Once Carlos had stopped squirming, he caught the faint flush that had settled across Cecil’s cheeks.

"What’s on my back, Cecil?"

Cecil’s tattoos shifted colours, most of them turning varying shades of red and pink. “It would appear that one of my tattoos has taken a liking to you,” he stated simply, causing Carlos to give him an odd look.

"Meaning?"

"You know that little squid that’s usually swimming around near my right hip bone?" Cecil offered, as opposed to answering Carlos.

"Yes," the scientist drawled, eyeing Cecil suspiciously.

"Well, he now appears to be located on your left shoulder blade."

Carlos stared at Cecil for a long moment, before touching his shoulder absently. “Is that a thing they do often?”

"Not usually, no," Cecil admitted, smiling bashfully, "Tattoo transfer usually only occurs when two parties have been closely enough intertwined in their fates that the ink either simply cannot differentiate where it should be, or it deems the un-inked party worthy of its presence."

Carlos flushed minutely at the information, a tiny smile playing across his lips. “So, it likes me.”

Cecil laughed, nodding a little. “It likes you.”


End file.
